samedi 11 mai 2019
The 80 years which changed the world: Shoah, Hitler's defeat and suicide, birth of Israël, death of communism in Europe and Russia, landing on the moon and the human genome: 1940-2020
Let us look at the retro-spectroscope
"Our species is 300,000 years old. For the first 290,000 years, we were foragers, subsisting in a way that’s still observable among the Bushmen of the Kalahari and the Sentinelese of the Andaman Islands. Even after Homo sapiens embraced agriculture, progress was painfully slow. A person born in Sumer in 4,000 b.c.e. would find the resources, work, and technology available in England at the time of the Norman Conquest or in the Aztec Empire at the time of Columbus quite familiar. Then, beginning in the mid 18th century, many people’s standard of living skyrocketed. What brought about this dramatic improvement, and why?"
https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2019/05/20/the-miracle-of-industrialization/
The free market is the solution because there is no freedom without economic freedom. Socialism, communism or statism is coercion.
https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2019/05/20/free-the-market-free-your-mind/
"In fact, Jews have lived in what is now the Arab world for over 2,600 years, a millennium before Islam was founded, and centuries before the Arab conquest of many of those territories. In pre-Islamic times, whole Jewish kingdoms existed there, for example, Himyar in Yemen."
https://www.thejc.com/culture/features/the-jews-driven-out-of-homes-in-arab-lands-1.448713?fbclid=IwAR1hEO7iKCebb1fJGK3Gf4E_wQjVPl1BdvPaMG5XJYhlHnshE_WGzi_-HpQ
"Our species is 300,000 years old. For the first 290,000 years, we were foragers, subsisting in a way that’s still observable among the Bushmen of the Kalahari and the Sentinelese of the Andaman Islands. Even after Homo sapiens embraced agriculture, progress was painfully slow. A person born in Sumer in 4,000 b.c.e. would find the resources, work, and technology available in England at the time of the Norman Conquest or in the Aztec Empire at the time of Columbus quite familiar. Then, beginning in the mid 18th century, many people’s standard of living skyrocketed. What brought about this dramatic improvement, and why?"
https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2019/05/20/the-miracle-of-industrialization/
The free market is the solution because there is no freedom without economic freedom. Socialism, communism or statism is coercion.
https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2019/05/20/free-the-market-free-your-mind/
"In fact, Jews have lived in what is now the Arab world for over 2,600 years, a millennium before Islam was founded, and centuries before the Arab conquest of many of those territories. In pre-Islamic times, whole Jewish kingdoms existed there, for example, Himyar in Yemen."
https://www.thejc.com/culture/features/the-jews-driven-out-of-homes-in-arab-lands-1.448713?fbclid=IwAR1hEO7iKCebb1fJGK3Gf4E_wQjVPl1BdvPaMG5XJYhlHnshE_WGzi_-HpQ
Fred Vargas and the millenarism of the greens, asserting a temperature threshold for death of half the population of the globe
"Fred Vargas est une grande enquêtrice, on peut lui faire confiance.
"Mes travaux et recherches sur l'affaire Battisti me permettent de maintenir ma conclusion sur son innocence" (AFP).
C'était déjà très bien.
Aujourd'hui, elle va au-delà. Ses dernières investigations portent sur le climat : "À 1,5 degré de plus, la moitié de l'humanité va mourir".
C'est chiffré, ça me paraît sérieux."
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24232291-100-the-idea-that-there-are-only-100-harvests-left-is-just-a-fantasy/?fbclid=IwAR2TKnnXv7NyN-v0G9vOL8aRe6Pug-MOVZq8q0jZInc3BEnMEZs1JcHkCNo
"Mes travaux et recherches sur l'affaire Battisti me permettent de maintenir ma conclusion sur son innocence" (AFP).
C'était déjà très bien.
Aujourd'hui, elle va au-delà. Ses dernières investigations portent sur le climat : "À 1,5 degré de plus, la moitié de l'humanité va mourir".
C'est chiffré, ça me paraît sérieux."
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24232291-100-the-idea-that-there-are-only-100-harvests-left-is-just-a-fantasy/?fbclid=IwAR2TKnnXv7NyN-v0G9vOL8aRe6Pug-MOVZq8q0jZInc3BEnMEZs1JcHkCNo
vendredi 10 mai 2019
French hostages and the issue of responsibility
It will then be necessary to talk about the responsibility of the French when they go to see wild animals or to do humanitarian work in the world and that they meet human beasts, the Islamists, as it was planned.
Il faudra ensuite parler de la responsabilité des français quand ils vont voir des animaux sauvages ou faire de l'humanitaire dans le monde et qu'ils rencontrent des bêtes humaines, les islamistes, comme c'était prévu.
Il faudra ensuite parler de la responsabilité des français quand ils vont voir des animaux sauvages ou faire de l'humanitaire dans le monde et qu'ils rencontrent des bêtes humaines, les islamistes, comme c'était prévu.
 |
| May 2018 recommandations |
Hungary and the future of Europe
https://www.claremont.org/crb/article/hungary-and-the-future-of-europe/#.XNWcMj5hzUQ.facebook
"...Weber was expected to tell Orbán that he would be kicked out of the party if he did not fulfill three conditions: stop the poster campaign against his fellow party member Juncker, apologize, and let the CEU stay in Budapest.
Why was Weber willing to go out on a limb this way? Why would he risk throwing one of his most loyal party members overboard in the middle of an election campaign? There is a strategic answer to that. Merkel’s 2015 invitation to Middle Eastern migrants had put the EPP in a difficult position. Long the largest party in the E.U. parliament, and the dominant one, it could expect to be much smaller after 2019, since many of its conservatives, horrified by Merkel’s moves, would certainly flee for anti-immigration and nationalist groups. Eventually EPP would have to make coalitions, and it would have two basic choices: reuniting with schismatic nationalists and xenophobes, or seeking out new alliances with liberals and Greens. Most party members favored the latter option, as did Weber, who, in an interview with the hometown Süddeutsche Zeitung, ruled out working with Italy’s firebrand interior minister, Matteo Salvini, whom Orbán described last summer as a “hero.” The party was thus on the verge of repudiating the things that had induced Orbán and Fidesz to join it.
Whatever went on during Orbán and Weber’s discussion, the dénouement was shocking. Weber announced that Orbán’s Fidesz would be suspended from the EPP immediately and indefinitely. This meant it would lose its right to attend meetings, lose its vote on internal matters, and lose its right to nominate officers. A council of “wise men” would scrutinize the behavior of Fidesz to ensure that it upheld democratic norms and determine whether it merited being reinstated. Orbán said he would support the EPP in the coming elections, described the exclusion as a standard procedure that had been used in the past, and chatted cheerily through the press appearance that followed. But it was the most brutal comeuppance of his political career. How had it happened?
In the days leading up to the suspension, Weber’s proposals had taken on a very Bavarian edge. After consultation with Weber, the Technische Universität, located in the Bavarian capital of Munich, had agreed to host part of CEU’s operations, should Weber’s plans to keep CEU in Budapest fall through, and BMW would be a partner, too. It was if the EPP were maneuvering in Weber’s backyard, not Orbán’s.
And, in fact, it was. Whatever one thinks of the justice or injustice of the post-Cold War economic settlement in eastern Europe, the fact is that Hungary’s main role in the global economy is to supply cheap labor for the German auto industry. Thirty percent of Hungary’s foreign trade is with Germany, and Bavaria accounts for half of that. The average German auto worker gets €34 an hour, including benefits, the average Hungarian auto worker €9. You could almost make better money working at a kebab stand in Berlin. But industrial work in eastern Europe is in short and diminishing supply, and those who hold those jobs are grateful to have them.
On top of that, there are ominous rumbles that auto manufacturing is on the way out. Will plants be shut down and Hungarian workers laid off? Will Hungarians be stuck making dirty old cars at declining wages, while German workers, advanced by their powerful unions, get to build the sophisticated, high-value-added electric cars?
Hungary’s position on the border between the powerful economies of Germany and Austria, on the one hand, and some of the poorest parts of the ex-Soviet Empire, on the other, has created a wild demographic upheaval inside the country. You can tell how important the western connection is from the transformation of Sopron, a Hungarian border city from which one can easily commute to Vienna: since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Sopron has more than doubled in size.
The Audi plant at Györ, as noted, is the largest engine factory in the world, the Mercedes plant at Kecskemét is the company’s largest, and the Bosch plant in Miskolc is impressive. But it is the prospect of a new, billion-euro BMW plant, announced for the eastern city of Debrecen last summer, on which Hungarians have pinned all their hopes. Debrecen will be a center not just for assembly but also design and engineering, an economic magic bullet. And as early as last December, the Austrian newspaper Der Standard was urging BMW to put political pressure on Orbán to change his ways. Weber was not laying down the law in the name of Europe. He was laying down the law in the name of Germany—something that has happened often in Hungary’s history, though not for more than three quarters of a century..."
The best piece I've read on today's Hungary in a long time, by the great Chris Caldwell, and a fitting answer to this month's uncharacteristically sloppy The Atlantic cover story.
Another opinion
https://quillette.com/2019/05/15/seventy-five-years-later-hungary-still-hasnt-come-to-terms-with-its-role-in-the-holocaust/
Do you need to know some hits in French literature?
https://www.letemps.ch/culture/50-meilleurs-livres-langue-francaise-1900-aujourdhui?fbclid=IwAR1tHtsWmHp6b3aQ-tAWTebIkckVOBJrc1uFOMNWneJybwTD_eh09vbEdj8
1. A la recherche du temps perdu (1913-1927), Marcel Proust (30 voix)
2. Voyage au bout de la nuit (1932), Louis-Ferdinand Céline (28)
3. L’Etranger (1942), Albert Camus (23)
4. Alcools (1913), Guillaume Apollinaire (18)
5. Belle du Seigneur (1968), Albert Cohen (17)
6. Mémoires d’Hadrien (1951), Marguerite Yourcenar (17)
6. Mémoires d’Hadrien (1951), Marguerite Yourcenar (17)
7. La Trilogie des jumeaux (Le Grand Cahier, La Preuve, Le Troisième Mensonge, 1986-1991), Agota Kristof (16)
8. L’Usage du monde (1963), Nicolas Bouvier (13)
9. En attendant Godot (1952), Samuel Beckett (11)
10. Paroles (1945), Jacques Prévert (11)
11. L’Ecume des jours (1947), Boris Vian (11)
10. Paroles (1945), Jacques Prévert (11)
11. L’Ecume des jours (1947), Boris Vian (11)
12. La Prose du Transsibérien (1913), Blaise Cendrars (10)
13. La Promesse de l’aube (1960), Romain Gary (10)
14. Vies minuscules (1984), Pierre Michon (10)
13. La Promesse de l’aube (1960), Romain Gary (10)
14. Vies minuscules (1984), Pierre Michon (10)
15. Capitale de la douleur (1926), Paul Eluard (9)
16. La Condition humaine (1933), André Malraux (9)
17. La Vie mode d’emploi (1978), Georges Perec (9)
16. La Condition humaine (1933), André Malraux (9)
17. La Vie mode d’emploi (1978), Georges Perec (9)
18. L’Amant (1984), Marguerite Duras (8)
19. Le Parti pris des choses (1942), Francis Ponge (8)
20. La Route des Flandres (1960), Claude Simon (8)
19. Le Parti pris des choses (1942), Francis Ponge (8)
20. La Route des Flandres (1960), Claude Simon (8)
21. Fureur et Mystère (1948), René Char (7)
22. La Place (1983), Annie Ernaux (7)
23. Les Années (2008), Annie Ernaux (7)
24. Paysages avec figures absentes (1970), Philippe Jaccottet (7)
25. Aline (1905), Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (7)
26. La Beauté sur la terre (1927), Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (7)
27. Bonjour tristesse (1954), Françoise Sagan (7)
28. Nouvelles orientales (1938), Marguerite Yourcenar (7)
22. La Place (1983), Annie Ernaux (7)
23. Les Années (2008), Annie Ernaux (7)
24. Paysages avec figures absentes (1970), Philippe Jaccottet (7)
25. Aline (1905), Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (7)
26. La Beauté sur la terre (1927), Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (7)
27. Bonjour tristesse (1954), Françoise Sagan (7)
28. Nouvelles orientales (1938), Marguerite Yourcenar (7)
29. Molloy (1951), Malone meurt (1951), L’Innommable (1953), trilogie, Samuel Beckett (6)
30. Nadja (1928), André Breton (6)
31. Moravagine (1926), Blaise Cendrars (6)
32. Cahier pour un retour au pays natal (1939), Aimé Césaire (6)
33. La Vie devant soi (1975), Romain Gary (6)
34. Le Rivage des Syrtes (1951), Julien Gracq (6)
35. Le Petit Prince (1943), Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (6)
36. Enfance (1983), Nathalie Sarraute (6)
30. Nadja (1928), André Breton (6)
31. Moravagine (1926), Blaise Cendrars (6)
32. Cahier pour un retour au pays natal (1939), Aimé Césaire (6)
33. La Vie devant soi (1975), Romain Gary (6)
34. Le Rivage des Syrtes (1951), Julien Gracq (6)
35. Le Petit Prince (1943), Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (6)
36. Enfance (1983), Nathalie Sarraute (6)
37. Le Grand Meaulnes (1913), Alain-Fournier (5)
38. Antigone (1944), Jean Anouilh (5)
39. Le Blé en herbe (1923), Colette (5)
40. Moderato cantabile (1958), Marguerite Duras (5)
41. Un Barrage contre le Pacifique (1950), Marguerite Duras (5)
42. Les Faux-monnayeurs (1925), André Gide (5)
43. Réparer les vivants (2013), Maylis de Kerangal (5)
44. Derborence (1934), Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (5)
45. La Nausée (1938), Jean-Paul Sartre (5)
38. Antigone (1944), Jean Anouilh (5)
39. Le Blé en herbe (1923), Colette (5)
40. Moderato cantabile (1958), Marguerite Duras (5)
41. Un Barrage contre le Pacifique (1950), Marguerite Duras (5)
42. Les Faux-monnayeurs (1925), André Gide (5)
43. Réparer les vivants (2013), Maylis de Kerangal (5)
44. Derborence (1934), Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (5)
45. La Nausée (1938), Jean-Paul Sartre (5)
46. Les Yeux d’Elsa (1942), Aragon (4)
47. La Demoiselle sauvage (1974), Corinna Bille (4)
48. Le Poisson-scorpion (1981), Nicolas Bouvier (4)
49. Mes Amis (1924), Emmanuel Bove (4)
50. Texaco (1992), Patrick Chamoiseau (4)
47. La Demoiselle sauvage (1974), Corinna Bille (4)
48. Le Poisson-scorpion (1981), Nicolas Bouvier (4)
49. Mes Amis (1924), Emmanuel Bove (4)
50. Texaco (1992), Patrick Chamoiseau (4)
Oreille rouge (2005), Eric Chevillard (4)
Le Rapport de Brodeck (2007), Philippe Claudel (4)
Les Esprits de la terre (1953), Catherine Colomb (4)
Courir (2008), Jean Echenoz (4)
Le Soleil des Scorta (2004), Laurent Gaudé (4)
Dans la solitude des champs de coton (1986), Bernard-Marie Koltès (4)
Le Lambeau (2018), Philippe Lançon (4)
Léon l’Africain (1986), Amin Maalouf (4)
Thérèse Desqueyroux (1927), François Mauriac (4)
La Vie dans les plis (1949), Henri Michaux (4)
La Place de l’Etoile (1968), Patrick Modiano (4)
Dora Bruder (1997), Patrick Modiano (4)
W ou le Souvenir d’enfance (1975), Georges Perec (4)
Tous les matins du monde (1991), Pascal Quignard (4)
Rapport aux bêtes (2002), Noëlle Revaz (4)
Air de la solitude (1945), Gustave Roud (4)
Huis clos (1944), Jean-Paul Sartre (4)
Les Mots (1963), Jean-Paul Sartre (4)
Le Rapport de Brodeck (2007), Philippe Claudel (4)
Les Esprits de la terre (1953), Catherine Colomb (4)
Courir (2008), Jean Echenoz (4)
Le Soleil des Scorta (2004), Laurent Gaudé (4)
Dans la solitude des champs de coton (1986), Bernard-Marie Koltès (4)
Le Lambeau (2018), Philippe Lançon (4)
Léon l’Africain (1986), Amin Maalouf (4)
Thérèse Desqueyroux (1927), François Mauriac (4)
La Vie dans les plis (1949), Henri Michaux (4)
La Place de l’Etoile (1968), Patrick Modiano (4)
Dora Bruder (1997), Patrick Modiano (4)
W ou le Souvenir d’enfance (1975), Georges Perec (4)
Tous les matins du monde (1991), Pascal Quignard (4)
Rapport aux bêtes (2002), Noëlle Revaz (4)
Air de la solitude (1945), Gustave Roud (4)
Huis clos (1944), Jean-Paul Sartre (4)
Les Mots (1963), Jean-Paul Sartre (4)
*Les ex aequo sont classés par ordre alphabétique du patronyme de l’auteur.
French quotes
“C’est une grande misère que de n’avoir pas assez d’esprit pour bien parler, ni assez de jugement pour se taire.”
Jean de La Bruyère
"La beauté affreuse de notre époque c’est que les races se sont mêlées sans se comprendre ni avoir eu le temps de se connaître et d’apprendre à se supporter".
Paul Morand.
" je ne vais voir dans l'autre qu’une confirmation de moi, je vais l’utiliser, l’instrumentaliser, pour en faire un spectateur et non pas une rencontre."
F Nietzsche
Jean de La Bruyère
"La beauté affreuse de notre époque c’est que les races se sont mêlées sans se comprendre ni avoir eu le temps de se connaître et d’apprendre à se supporter".
Paul Morand.
" je ne vais voir dans l'autre qu’une confirmation de moi, je vais l’utiliser, l’instrumentaliser, pour en faire un spectateur et non pas une rencontre."
F Nietzsche
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